Stabi Reference 2

For many years, the suspended sub-chassis turntable was the de facto standard for high-end performance. Originally, this meant lightweight, floating chassis designs, with the platter and arm isolated on a lightweight sprung surface. But since then, improved materials and understanding of isolation have enabled us to significantly advance the floating sub-chassis concept, improving stability and performance significantly.

The STABI REFERENCE 2 employs composite construction throughout, with the base, suspended chassis, armboard and platter all employing aluminium/acrylic sandwich construction, for superior rigidity and energy dissipation. The massive sub-chassis supports the platter and tonearm. Its high suspended mass supported on four sprung isolators, easily adjusted from above and tuned to a low 2.2 Hz frequency to optimise isolation without
interfering with record replay. The 8 kg platter is internally rubber damped, topped with our unique hybrid rubber/ textile mat and screw down clamp, and spins on an inverted, diamond polished bearing shaft and ruby ball. A specially selected, non-resonant, low-noise material is used for the thrust pad and sleeve ring with each contact point immersed in an oil bath to reduce friction and further eliminate mechanical noise.

The turntable base supports the suspension elements and twin AC motors that drive the aluminium sub-platter via a precision machined flat rubber belt. An outboard power supply feeds both motors with precisely generated sine waves, amplified by a pair of 20 W class A amplifiers. The dual drive, precisely machined parts (the platter exhibits a total rotational error of less than 0.02 mm) and stability of the low-frequency/high suspended-mass have helped the STABI REFERENCE 2 to redefine the speed stability and ultimately, the maximum performance capability of the suspended sub-chassis design.